In plain words
So long as there is water, there is no escaping the foul smell. All that water must turn to steam. Only then do we get pure ghee. In the same way, as man does sādhana, by the time he reaches certain levels the stench of bad qualities comes out. So long as the water of material desires stays in the mind, these ‘foul smells’ cannot be avoided. We must restrain them and keep up sādhana until that ‘water’ has wholly turned to steam. Hiraṇyakaśipu and Hiraṇyākṣa were very great. But because they let material desires into their minds, ‘foul smells’ arose in them. Prahlāda alone gave up attachment to the body completely, reached the state beyond Manas, Buddhi, citta and Ahaṅkāra, and became pure ‘butter’. Today a great many people sing bhajans and give talks. But the water of material desires in their minds has not turned to steam. So long as that ‘water’ remains, they cannot attain purity. People today are like butter with water mixed in it. They have grown thoroughly used to the foul smells themselves. However many sādhanas they do, bhajans, japa, dhyāna and the like, they cannot give up material desires. How can we call such people devotees? If they were truly devotees, why would these ‘foul smells’ arise in them? Nothing but stench in the body, nothing but stench in the mind, nothing but stench in the work they do. They themselves cannot recognise the stench within them.
Faith must be unwavering
Devotees! However many hardships and however many losses befall you, you must see that your mind does not waver. You must hold firm faith. Only then can you attain Śānti. However many torments his father put him through, Prahlāda paid them no heed at all. His Prema for God did not waver in the least. But devotees today cannot bear even the slightest hardship; they give doubts room in their hearts and lose their faith. To lose one's faith is as good as losing one's breath!